diff --git a/evm/src/cpu/kernel/aggregator.rs b/evm/src/cpu/kernel/aggregator.rs
index 0c3015f2..d339fa99 100644
--- a/evm/src/cpu/kernel/aggregator.rs
+++ b/evm/src/cpu/kernel/aggregator.rs
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ pub(crate) fn combined_kernel() -> Kernel {
         include_str!("asm/mpt/write.asm"),
         include_str!("asm/rlp/encode.asm"),
         include_str!("asm/rlp/decode.asm"),
+        include_str!("asm/rlp/num_bytes.asm"),
         include_str!("asm/rlp/read_to_memory.asm"),
         include_str!("asm/sha2/compression.asm"),
         include_str!("asm/sha2/constants.asm"),
diff --git a/evm/src/cpu/kernel/asm/rlp/encode.asm b/evm/src/cpu/kernel/asm/rlp/encode.asm
index fa67ace0..9e4b8ae5 100644
--- a/evm/src/cpu/kernel/asm/rlp/encode.asm
+++ b/evm/src/cpu/kernel/asm/rlp/encode.asm
@@ -196,43 +196,6 @@ prepend_rlp_list_prefix_big_done_writing_len:
 %%after:
 %endmacro
 
-// Get the number of bytes required to represent the given scalar.
-// The scalar is assumed to be non-zero, as small scalars like zero should
-// have already been handled with the small-scalar encoding.
-// TODO: Should probably unroll the loop
-global num_bytes:
-    // stack: x, retdest
-    PUSH 0 // i
-    // stack: i, x, retdest
-
-num_bytes_loop:
-    // stack: i, x, retdest
-    // If x[i] != 0, break.
-    DUP2 DUP2
-    // stack: i, x, i, x, retdest
-    BYTE
-    // stack: x[i], i, x, retdest
-    %jumpi(num_bytes_finish)
-    // stack: i, x, retdest
-
-    %add_const(1)
-    // stack: i', x, retdest
-    %jump(num_bytes_loop)
-
-num_bytes_finish:
-    // stack: i, x, retdest
-    PUSH 32
-    SUB
-    %stack (num_bytes, x, retdest) -> (retdest, num_bytes)
-    JUMP
-
-// Convenience macro to call num_bytes and return where we left off.
-%macro num_bytes
-    %stack (x) -> (x, %%after)
-    %jump(num_bytes)
-%%after:
-%endmacro
-
 // Given some scalar, compute the number of bytes used in its RLP encoding,
 // including any length prefix.
 %macro scalar_rlp_len
diff --git a/evm/src/cpu/kernel/asm/rlp/num_bytes.asm b/evm/src/cpu/kernel/asm/rlp/num_bytes.asm
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a242f147
--- /dev/null
+++ b/evm/src/cpu/kernel/asm/rlp/num_bytes.asm
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+// Get the number of bytes required to represent the given scalar.
+// Note that we define num_bytes(0) to be 1.
+
+global num_bytes:
+    // stack: x, retdest
+    DUP1 PUSH  0 BYTE %jumpi(return_32)
+    DUP1 PUSH  1 BYTE %jumpi(return_31)
+    DUP1 PUSH  2 BYTE %jumpi(return_30)
+    DUP1 PUSH  3 BYTE %jumpi(return_29)
+    DUP1 PUSH  4 BYTE %jumpi(return_28)
+    DUP1 PUSH  5 BYTE %jumpi(return_27)
+    DUP1 PUSH  6 BYTE %jumpi(return_26)
+    DUP1 PUSH  7 BYTE %jumpi(return_25)
+    DUP1 PUSH  8 BYTE %jumpi(return_24)
+    DUP1 PUSH  9 BYTE %jumpi(return_23)
+    DUP1 PUSH 10 BYTE %jumpi(return_22)
+    DUP1 PUSH 11 BYTE %jumpi(return_21)
+    DUP1 PUSH 12 BYTE %jumpi(return_20)
+    DUP1 PUSH 13 BYTE %jumpi(return_19)
+    DUP1 PUSH 14 BYTE %jumpi(return_18)
+    DUP1 PUSH 15 BYTE %jumpi(return_17)
+    DUP1 PUSH 16 BYTE %jumpi(return_16)
+    DUP1 PUSH 17 BYTE %jumpi(return_15)
+    DUP1 PUSH 18 BYTE %jumpi(return_14)
+    DUP1 PUSH 19 BYTE %jumpi(return_13)
+    DUP1 PUSH 20 BYTE %jumpi(return_12)
+    DUP1 PUSH 21 BYTE %jumpi(return_11)
+    DUP1 PUSH 22 BYTE %jumpi(return_10)
+    DUP1 PUSH 23 BYTE %jumpi(return_9)
+    DUP1 PUSH 24 BYTE %jumpi(return_8)
+    DUP1 PUSH 25 BYTE %jumpi(return_7)
+    DUP1 PUSH 26 BYTE %jumpi(return_6)
+    DUP1 PUSH 27 BYTE %jumpi(return_5)
+    DUP1 PUSH 28 BYTE %jumpi(return_4)
+    DUP1 PUSH 29 BYTE %jumpi(return_3)
+         PUSH 30 BYTE %jumpi(return_2)
+
+    // If we got all the way here, each byte was zero, except possibly the least
+    // significant byte, which we didn't check. Either way, the result is 1.
+    // stack: retdest
+    PUSH 1
+    SWAP1
+    JUMP
+
+return_2:      PUSH  2 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_3:  POP PUSH  3 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_4:  POP PUSH  4 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_5:  POP PUSH  5 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_6:  POP PUSH  6 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_7:  POP PUSH  7 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_8:  POP PUSH  8 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_9:  POP PUSH  9 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_10: POP PUSH 10 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_11: POP PUSH 11 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_12: POP PUSH 12 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_13: POP PUSH 13 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_14: POP PUSH 14 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_15: POP PUSH 15 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_16: POP PUSH 16 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_17: POP PUSH 17 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_18: POP PUSH 18 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_19: POP PUSH 19 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_20: POP PUSH 20 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_21: POP PUSH 21 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_22: POP PUSH 22 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_23: POP PUSH 23 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_24: POP PUSH 24 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_25: POP PUSH 25 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_26: POP PUSH 26 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_27: POP PUSH 27 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_28: POP PUSH 28 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_29: POP PUSH 29 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_30: POP PUSH 30 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_31: POP PUSH 31 SWAP1 JUMP
+return_32: POP PUSH 32 SWAP1 JUMP
+
+// Convenience macro to call num_bytes and return where we left off.
+%macro num_bytes
+    %stack (x) -> (x, %%after)
+    %jump(num_bytes)
+%%after:
+%endmacro
diff --git a/evm/src/cpu/kernel/tests/rlp/mod.rs b/evm/src/cpu/kernel/tests/rlp/mod.rs
index bc9bde59..3629434f 100644
--- a/evm/src/cpu/kernel/tests/rlp/mod.rs
+++ b/evm/src/cpu/kernel/tests/rlp/mod.rs
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 mod decode;
 mod encode;
+mod num_bytes;
diff --git a/evm/src/cpu/kernel/tests/rlp/num_bytes.rs b/evm/src/cpu/kernel/tests/rlp/num_bytes.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fa4066fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/evm/src/cpu/kernel/tests/rlp/num_bytes.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+use anyhow::Result;
+
+use crate::cpu::kernel::aggregator::KERNEL;
+use crate::cpu::kernel::interpreter::Interpreter;
+
+#[test]
+fn test_num_bytes_0() -> Result<()> {
+    let num_bytes = KERNEL.global_labels["num_bytes"];
+
+    let retdest = 0xDEADBEEFu32.into();
+    let x = 0.into();
+    let initial_stack = vec![retdest, x];
+    let mut interpreter = Interpreter::new_with_kernel(num_bytes, initial_stack);
+
+    interpreter.run()?;
+    assert_eq!(interpreter.stack(), vec![1.into()]);
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_num_bytes_small() -> Result<()> {
+    let num_bytes = KERNEL.global_labels["num_bytes"];
+
+    let retdest = 0xDEADBEEFu32.into();
+    let x = 42.into();
+    let initial_stack = vec![retdest, x];
+    let mut interpreter = Interpreter::new_with_kernel(num_bytes, initial_stack);
+
+    interpreter.run()?;
+    assert_eq!(interpreter.stack(), vec![1.into()]);
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_num_bytes_medium() -> Result<()> {
+    let num_bytes = KERNEL.global_labels["num_bytes"];
+
+    let retdest = 0xDEADBEEFu32.into();
+    let x = 0xAABBCCDDu32.into();
+    let initial_stack = vec![retdest, x];
+    let mut interpreter = Interpreter::new_with_kernel(num_bytes, initial_stack);
+
+    interpreter.run()?;
+    assert_eq!(interpreter.stack(), vec![4.into()]);
+    Ok(())
+}